Jia Qiong Zhi Mu
贾琼之母
“Brought Her Daughter”
Her Story
A widow of one of the poor collateral branches of the Jia clan, and the mother of Jia Qiong — one of the young men set to receive mourners at Qin Keqing’s funeral in Chapter 13.
She appears once. Chapter 71 is Grandmother Jia’s eightieth birthday, and the day there are no outside guests, only the clan, she brings her daughter Sijie’r. Out of some twenty girls Grandmother Jia picks Sijie’r and her cousin Xiluan for their looks and their manner and has them sit at the couch, then tells Xifeng to keep the two a few days and sends word round the Garden that though they are poor they are to be treated exactly like the daughters of the house.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Head thrown back, eyes shut, laughing. A grey gauze coat printed with pink cloud-scrolls flies off both shoulders over a blue-green gown; both hands are up at her chest, sleeves swinging. Bare paper, no floor. She is painted at the party, not in the poor branch’s rooms.
The Calligraphy
贾琼之母 — the clan surname, the son’s given name, and 之母: she is identified through the child who is not in her one scene, rather than the daughter who is.
Connections
- Jia Qiong 贾琼 — her son, through whom she is named.
- Sijie’r 四姐儿 — her daughter, whom she brings to the birthday and who is singled out.
- Grandmother Jia 贾母 — seats the girl beside her and orders her treated as one of the family’s own.
- Wang Xifeng 王熙凤 — told to keep the two girls on, and relied on by the poorer mothers.
- Xiluan 喜鸾 — the other clan girl chosen with her daughter.
Dream of the Red Chamber
Xiang Li painted all 413 characters of the novel between 1975 and 1985, the first person to complete the entire cast. See the whole collection · Chinese Empresses
